On Sunday morning, William Byron will have the opportunity to make a little bit of NASCAR history.
Byron will attempt to put his No. 24 Chevrolet on the pole for the Brickyard 400 (2 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC).
While it would be his fifth pole of the year, Byron would be able to say he’s the only driver to sit on the pole of all four “Crown Jewel” races in the same year.
Byron has been really fast this season.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has started on the front row of a Cup Series race nine times, including his four poles.
Three of those poles have been when the spotlight was the brightest.
When Byron claimed the pole for last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington, he became just the third driver in Cup history to sit on the pole for the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500 in the same year.
He joined Fireball Roberts (1962) and Bill Elliott (1985) in the accomplishment.
Unlike Roberts and Elliott, Byron didn’t go on to win the Daytona 500, or even the Southern 500, which Bill Elliott did.
Byron is still looking for his first career Cup Series win entering Sunday’s race, which will be his 62nd start.
Byron is one of four drivers - including Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer and Matt DiBenedetto - who have finished second this season but have yet to win.
With 180 laps led through 25 races, Byron has the third most laps led among winless drivers.
Luckily, Byron has some winning experience already at Indianapolis.
In 2017, the then 19-year-old won the Xfinity Series race at IMS to become the youngest driver to ever win a NASCAR race at the track.